You, Me, Diners and Daybreaks- A Carmilla Christmas Fic
by Teaandchemistry
Summary: "Five minutes, cupcake. Can you keep your eyes open for five minutes?" Carmilla gives Laura a Christmas present.


"Ugh, Carm… why can't we just stay inside?"

"Just follow me, okay?"

The sleepy warm light of the diner is slowly lulling me to sleep against Carmilla's cat sweater-clad shoulder, and I was happy to let my lethargy take me— that is, until Carmilla decides to slip out from underneath me, take my hand and gently tug me out of the booth. I groan, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Come on, cupcake."

I groan again and add a whimper for good measure, lifting the heaviness of my left eye to see Carmilla kneeling by the booth, hand still outstretched, cool, smooth fingers gently caressing the back of my hand. She doesn't want to plead— begging has never really been Carmilla's speed— but her eyebrows are beginning to lift and her lips are beginning to curl into a pout and oh my God she's so cute I can't help but grin at her myself.

"You can mope all you want, Carm, I'm not moving. My legs are already asleep."

She dips her head, and her fringe falls down over her eyes. She squeezes my hand ever-so-slightly, before lifting her head again.

"Five minutes, okay? Then we can come back inside and you can continue using me as a pillow."

I glance around the diner. Perry and LaFontaine are passed out in another booth, LaF leaning back against Perry with their arms folded over their chest and their mouth half-open. Perry is quietly snoring into LaFontaine's Santa hat. I look back at Carmilla, to the way she takes such great care in gently drifting touches over my knuckles.

Carmilla withdraws her hand from mine and brushes the wayward locks from my face, allowing her fingertips to ghost over my jawline. She stands, bringing an arm around my shoulder and leaning down to whisper in my ear.

"I have a present for you."

I turn to meet her gaze, and I see something in Carmilla's eyes that I'd never seen before— excitement. Genuine, honest-to-Christmas childlike excitement. Her lips lift up in a lopsided half-grin, and her eyebrow quirks in a jitter that seems near involuntary. I feel the warmth of her gaze spread over me as well, the heat in my cheeks reaching up and over my head.

That is, until I realise that I legitimately cannot move without either causing immense pins-and-needles or my body to fall clumsily over the booth table.

"Ow…"

I feel a strong, sure arm tighten around my upper back, followed by a gentle, yet firm pressure behind my knees. I'm being lifted, carried… Carmilla's hair is feathering over my face and I feel a gentle rocking as we move towards the entrance of the diner. She turns, pushing against the door with her back. A bell tinkles as it gives way. I glance upwards— the diner doorbell is bedecked with mistletoe, tied in twine to the brushed metal bracket.

"I'm going to put you down, Laura. That okay?"

I nod, and Carmilla lowers herself to one knee before setting me down ever-so-softly in the snow. It's not as cold as I expected. The starry expanse that was here when we arrived has given way to a dusky concoction of burnt oranges and soft pinks, faintly mottled by the gentle whisper of clouds.

"Five minutes, cupcake. Can you keep your eyes open for five minutes?"

The sunrise stretches out before us like a painting come to life. From the mountaintop, the expanse covered the landscape almost completely; save for the slightest hint of a forest several hundred feet down the mountain.

"Whoa." I whisper, my breath forming a cloud of mist that dissipates into the air as quickly as it comes.

"I know, cupcake. When you've seen as many sunrises as I have, you'd expect it to get less spectacular. Never happens, though."

She pauses, winding an arm around mine, entwining our fingers.

"I hope to see many more suns rise and fall with you."

I look at her. She glances back furtively, a blush creeping into cheeks I had never thought fit to contain one. I nudge her shoulder with mine.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been up early enough to watch a sunrise. Well, besides all those all-nighters I've pulled, but you never really get the time to go wa-"

Carmilla cuts me off with the sweetest of kisses, accompanied by a gentle hand on my neck. She tastes of spice and sugar and the slightest bit metallic. I kiss her back, my own hand creeping around her waist, fiddling with the hem of her ridiculous Christmas sweater.

Carmilla nudges my nose gently with hers, winding her fingers up into my hair. I try to pull her closer, before remembering that my legs still weren't properly awake and falling square on top of her.

"Ooft!" I land with an ungraceful, dull thud in the snow, and I don't even have the energy to pull myself off. "Sorry," I mumble into the sleeve of Carmilla's sweater.

She chuckles, low and soft. "Don't be." She sits up, pulling me up with her, looking me square in the eyes.

"Laura Hollis, however awkward or clumsy you may be, it is a privilege to be shivering in the snow with you."

My hands have found their way into knots in Carm's sweater, and by now I'm the one blushing in ardour.

"I love you." It's barely a whisper, so gentle that it seems to disappear in the breeze, like a mere breath. At first, I don't register that's what she actually said. In fact, everything seems to slow down— the breeze, the warmth creeping over my back, Carmilla's thumb drawing circles over the back of my palm— and I can't seem to find the four simple words I want to reply with.

"You sure know how to make a girl swoon, and I don't mean in the literal sense, excepting the fact that I literally did just fall over you, I mean with the sunrise, and the snow, and the, y'know, the sunrise-"

"Laura, sweetheart, you're rambling."

I blush again, and she smiles. I beam back at her, overwhelmed by her closeness and her gentleness, despite the bloody tang that still lingered lukewarm on her breath.

"I love you too, Carmilla."

She helps me up and I dust the snow off my legs, while Carmilla slowly runs a firm hand over my back. The sun was now reflecting brightly off the snow, having cleared out the watercolour of pink and orange in favour of the new blue day.

We stand there for a little while, relishing in the fact that we're alive and together, against all odds. We may be lost in the Styrian alps, but such things are irrelevant while there are sunrises and cat sweaters and moments of uninterrupted beauty to be spent with my resplendent vampire… girlfriend?

"What are you thinking about, cupcake?" Carmilla brings me out of my reverie with a pepper of kisses over my nose and cheeks.

"Does this mean we're, I dunno, girlfriends now?"

"Huh. Girlfriends… it's a little bubblegum-pop, but I guess I could roll with it." She smiles, taking my hand and leading me back towards the door. She goes to push the door handle down, but I stay her hand.

"Wait. Look up."

She does, a fresh grin cracking out wide over her face as she notices the flora dangling from the bell. She pulls me by my waist until my hips connect with hers, and she kisses me. It's not desperate, but not controlled. It's eager, and somewhat clumsy, but it's sure and it's steady and safe. Carmilla pulls away and rest her forehead against mine, and I wrap my arms around her neck.

"Merry Christmas, Carmilla."

"Merry Christmas, Laura."

She opens the door. Perry and LaF are still couched together in slumber in the corner, now with Perry curled into LaFontaine's side. The new sunlight filters in through the diner windows, illuminating the dust that dances in the air. I feel Carmilla pull away from me. She's poring over a record machine in the corner, fingers dallying over the buttons. She deftly presses one, before offering me an outstretched hand.

"Feel like waltzing, cupcake?"

_Fin._

_Merry Christmas, creampuffs!_


End file.
